Samsung Galaxy S Advance Preview

Introduction:

While dual-core processors are a common trait when high-end smartphones are concerned, mid range devices pretty much always stick to single-core CPUs. But not the Samsung Galaxy S Advance – inside it ticks a 1GHz dual-core chipset made by ST-Ericsson. The rest of its specs look pretty decent as well for a mid-range Android smartphone: 4-inch Super AMOLED display with WVGA resolution, 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash, 14.4Mbps 3G radio, and 8 or 16 gigs of on-board storage.

The Samsung Galaxy S Advance is not available on the market yet, but what we have here is a prototype unit of the smartphone. Care to learn more about it? Then read along...

Design:

Upon holding the Samsung Galaxy S Advance for the first time, we noticed that it sports more than a few design cues present in other Samsung devices, such as the Galaxy Nexus flagship. And that, of course, is a good thing as it adds a dose of premium feel to an otherwise mid-range device. On one hand, we have a curved glass display meant to follow the shape of the user's face more naturally. On the other, the fine texture on its back feels nice to the touch and adds a bit of extra grip. Furthermore, it is slightly thicker and heavier at the bottom, which makes it a bit more comfortable to grasp.



You can compare the Samsung Galaxy S Advance with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The outlay of the three Android buttons located under the smartphone's display is familiar as well: a big physical home key is located in the middle, accompanied by two capacitive buttons for the menu and back functions. Fortunately, the capacitive buttons are not prone to accidental presses. Last but not least, the volume rocker and power key, which reside on the smartphone's left and right side respectively, respond with an excellent click when pressed.


Display:

The 4-inch Super AMOLED display on the Samsung Galaxy S Advance has a resolution of 480 by 800 pixels and uses a PenTile pixel arrangement. When HD smartphone displays are concerned, that shouldn't really make much of a difference, but on this WVGA display, small text appears slightly jagged. Looking at the good side of things, the display exhibits bright, punchy colors and high contrast levels, just like the case is with today's AMOLED displays. Also, it is bright enough to be used comfortably in broad daylight.

Interface and functionality:

What runs on the Samsung Galaxy S Advance is Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread customized with the all-familiar TouchWiz 4.0 user interface. And besides a few minor visual tweaks, there is really nothing new to show off here. At this time, we have no word as to whether Samsung is planning on updating the Galaxy S Advance to Ice Cream Sandwich, and failure to do so would be a huge drawback for the smartphone. The 1GHz dual-core NovaThor chipset from ST-Ericsson along with 768 megabytes of RAM handles navigation effortlessly even though this here is just an unpolished prototype unit.


Given its 4 inches of display real estate, typing on the on-screen virtual keyboard is a bit tricky in portrait mode and typos can be common. Switching over to landscape mode, however, makes inputting those long emails and text messages much easier.



Internet Browser:

In terms of features, the built-in internet browser on the Samsung Galaxy S Advance has all necessities covered - pinch to zoom, tap to zoom, text reflow, Adobe Flash support, you name it.



Camera:

We took a few outdoor shots with the prototype Samsung Galaxy S Advance and its 5-megapixel auto-focus camera, and the results were quite good under favorable conditions. When taken in broad daylight, photos look detailed and properly exposed. Indoor shots, on the other hand, lack fine detail and the LED flash messes up the white balance making the whole scene blueish. Of course, the quality of photos taken with a final unit might differ. When it comes to features, tap to focus is supported, and you have plenty of shooting modes and settings to experiment with.


The Samsung Galaxy S Advance can shoot video at 720p, and as the case is with still photos, footage looks good as long as the scene is well illuminated.

Samsung Galaxy S Advance Sample Video:



Samsung Galaxy S Advance Indoor Sample Video:



Expectations:

Judging by this prototype unit that we got to play with, the Samsung Galaxy S Advance is shaping up as a very promising device. It looks good, fits comfortably in the hand, and really didn't give us much to complain about. We believe that it would be a good pick for consumers looking for dual-core performance at a reasonable price. Speaking of pricing, the Samsung Galaxy S Advance is currently available for pre-order. At $440, it is priced similarly to the Samsung Galaxy R and at about $70 more than the Samsung Galaxy S Plus. Shipping is expected to start by the end of February, and you can expect our full Review soon after.